---
title: "Why does Ketryx introduce custom relation fields rather than using Jira's native links?"
description: "There are two main reasons for this: Native links can go from any issue to any other issue, so you can't restrict the target of a particular relation."
category: "Frequently Asked Questions"
section: "Traceability"
keywords: ["native links", "relation", "introduce", "names", "custom", "parent", "issue", "point"]
source_url: "https://support.ketryx.com/hc/en-us/articles/21723770012557-Why-does-Ketryx-introduce-custom-relation-fields-rather-than-using-Jira-s-native-links"
last_reviewed: 2026-06-11
---

# Why does Ketryx introduce custom relation fields rather than using Jira's native links?

> **In short:** There are two main reasons for this: Native links can go from any issue to any other issue, so you can't restrict the target of a particular relation.

There are two main reasons for this:

1. Native links can go from any issue to any other issue, so you can't restrict the target of a particular relation. For instance, a _has parent_ relation might point to any other item, while the _Parent requirements_ fields can be restricted to only contain other _Requirements_ as options.
2. You can edit native links even when a ticket is otherwise read-only, i.e. even when the issue is already _Resolved_ or _Closed_.

Note: A Jira limitation put on the population of a custom select field that Ketryx creates is the fact that a select field has a limit of 10,000 options. The implication of that is that when you have over 10,000 items, the relational field will no longer populate new items in that select field. At this point, you can utilize either the traceability widget or mapping of Jira native links to convert to Ketryx relations.

That being said, Ketryx also recognizes native Jira links as long as they match the Ketryx relation names. These names can also be configured using the advanced setting [Relation names](https://docs.ketryx.com/Nfv9ttHxYK0eaVZFq3wl/reference/advanced-settings#relation-names). If you prefer to work with Jira links, you can use these, and potentially remove certain relation fields using the advanced setting [Item fields](https://docs.ketryx.com/Nfv9ttHxYK0eaVZFq3wl/reference/advanced-settings#item-fields).

## Related articles

- [Can Ketryx convert our existing Jira native links to Ketryx custom relational fields?](can-ketryx-convert-our-existing-jira-native-links-to-ketryx-custom-relational.md)
- [Can I create a new/custom Ketryx relation type for the traceability widget?](can-i-create-a-new-custom-ketryx-relation-type-for-the-traceability-widget.md)
- [Why is my custom item type not showing up with default realtions?](why-is-my-custom-item-type-not-showing-up-with-default-realtions.md)
- [How do I map relation names to Ketryx relation types when fetching data from Jira?](how-do-i-map-relation-names-to-ketryx-relation-types-when-fetching-data-from.md)
- [Why is my new trace widget link not in a Ketryx custom link field in Jira?](why-is-my-new-trace-widget-link-not-in-a-ketryx-custom-link-field-in-jira.md)